Getting a chance to cover the Dove Awards is a privledge, but it’s not as glamorous as it seems. Just as any journalist, especially sports reporters, will tell you. As a former sportswriter, I can tell you it’s a long day covering a baseball game. You are at the stadium hours before game time, even before the athletes, and hours after everyone has left the stadium — but that’s for another post. This is about the Dove Awards. I don’t know if they do this for the Grammys, but here’s a look at what happens in the Doves’ pressroom.

We don’t get a seat in the venue — this year at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta — to watch the awards show, journalist are in a backroom, watching the show on a big screen TV. Even at the Grand Ole Opry, we were in a room below the stage area. I actually bought a ticket when I covered my first Dove Awards just so I could pop in and watch a bit of the show to get the feel for the show and the legendary Opry.

Usually tables are set up for journalists, especially ones that are working on deadline, along with power outlets for our many computers, phones, etc. This year, there were so many media passes given out tables were not available, just chairs facing a stage area. Luckily my pals in the press helped me set up my “nest” area along the wall. I used a piano bench as my table; Terry DeBoer used a chair as his table. And fortunately he had an extension cord as other journalists were plugging in to recharge phones and laptops. I had an extra phone charger, and I charged numerous phones through my computer. Here’s a pic of Ryan from Jesus Freak Hideout and how he rolls at the Doves.

So now after setting up shop in our makeshift “press row,” the Dove Awards began with the preshow presentation of awards. While the presentation was shown on the TV, once an artist is brought into the press area, the TV is turned down so we can take pictures of the artists and then ask questions. In the meantime, the show must go on, so awards are presented while we are interviewing and taking snaps. The funny part is after that artist leaves the press area most of the journalists are asking, “Who just won?” “Who performed?” It’s rather humorous trying to keep up and keep you the reader posted on what is happening.

And then there’s the “Are you tweeting?” “What did you tweet?” “I missed that, what happened?” “Do you have a list of winners?” “How did you do that?”

So as you can see I didn’t get to watch the show live while I was working, so I’m DVRing it tonight so I can see the performances. And you also get a glimpse of the camaraderie among reporters that tends to spread across a variety of events we cover.

Michael Tait, second from left, talks about change in the Christian music industry.

Michael Tait performed at the Dove Awards last week and the former DCTalk member talked about being a pioneer in changes to the Christian music world.

“I’m excited when things change,” Tait said. “It’s a tremendous calling. It’s exciting to see someone like Jamie Grace come along. I love that we are all mixed together. I try to remain relevant. You know music is very powerful. Sometimes the only way to get through to a kid is through the headphones.”

Tickets for Heaven Fest, the one-day Christian music festival, are currently on sale at this site.

The festival on Saturday, July 28 at The Ranch in Loveland features numerous stages with over 100 artists. Also included are a kid zone, a skateboard demo area and comedy area.

All the money from ticket sales go to organizations that serve the poor, the exploited, the hungry, the thirsty, and the fatherless. Suggested price is $35 for adults, $19 for children and children under 5 are admitted free.

Quick hits from the 2012 Dove Awards.
Former mainstream rapper Montell Jordan was a presenter at the 2012 Dove Awards in Atlanta on Thursday, April 19. While backstage at the GMA awards Jordan, who is known for the popular “This is How We Do It,” chatted about becoming involved in the Christian music world.

“I get asked that a lot,” Jordan said. “But I quit the music business and I became a minister.”

Victory World Church is a multicultural church in Norcross, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta, that Jordan helped start. Last year, Jordan recorded “Shake Heaven” with with Beckah Shae.

“I bring different cultures together. Different genres. We are opening the world up to all styles of music,” Jordan said. “There’s not a white Jesus, a black Jesus, an Asian Jesus. We all come together, and when we do we become closer to what heaven really looks like.”
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Krissy Nordhoff won a 2012 Dove Award for Worship Song of the Year for “Your Great Name.”

She cowrote the song with Michael Neale after a two year journey of suffering from lyme disease.

“It was a debilitating disease. I suffered for two years,” Nordhoff said. “Then I went to this healing service and the Lord touched me in a way that I had never been touched before. And I wanted to write a song about (God) that he is who he says he is. He showed me through his healing. And then I got stuck writing, so I brought the song to Michael and I’ll let him explain.”

Neale said he was writing at the piano with the “kids running around the music room and my wife came in the room and said, ‘That’s good. Keep writing.'”

Are you in need of uplifting both lyrically and musically? With its latest CD, “Rebel Transmission,” NewWorldSon intertwines the two into a brilliant trip down numerous musical lanes while jogging the mind with a poignant view of the world and a message of hope.

I hear influences of The Beach Boys, The Supremes, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles and then there’s this little song — Selah — that places you right at a table in smoke-filled New Orleans juke joint. Deep on Track 8, “Selah” is a fun surprise starting with a snare drum beat, add in some keys and you can just see the patrons dancing a jitterbug. The song’s about how God works in mysterious ways.
Once upon a time there was a mean old man
Used to fall asleep beside a garbage can
Then somebody said he met the Holy Dove
Now you never met someone so filled with love

Lead vocalist Joel Parisien takes on numerous forms — from the ballads of the current radio hit, “Learning To Be the Light” and “Today” to a taste of Motown on “Homeless Child” and “Son of Man,” and even a bit of country with “Sweet Grace,” complete with pedal guitar. The Canadian band that got its start in a jazz club keeps the listener interested with a diverse tone and beat throughout the CD.

“5,6, 7, 8″ is a fast-paced dance number with hints of Rare Earth and The Temptations, including “funky” drum and bass solos and a few “na na na’s and di di di’s thrown in with these lyrics:

I live on 5678 Get Down Street
I’ve got the music to move your feet
People come knocking from miles around
Just to get a sample of the beat
The sign on the lawn says: God is love
And the Spirit lives in my song

There is no way you are sitting still when this one is playing.

“Old Time Religion” features a doo-wop sound that incorporates deep background vocals and asks how you can call Christianity old-time religion?

Ain’t nothing old about God’s Holy Spirit
He’s the same today as yesterday
And evermore shall He be

Call my crazy, but I’m a sucker for the Motown sound and I just can’t get enough of this CD. When I’m in need of blocking out this world and gaining a message of Christ’s promises this is the CD that I have been popping in.

The Life is Loud spring tour featuring Kutless and Hawk Nelson has been canceled.

Kutless lead singer Jon Micah Sumrall announced the cancellation on Facebook late Monday night. This is what he wrote:

Unfortunately, due to a situation that was out of our control and unrelated to Kutless completely, the Life is Loud Spring tour with Hawk Nelson has been cancelled. We were not apart of the decision making process to cancel the tour and we were unable to influence the decision at all. Despite our best efforts, we are not able to save any of the dates. We are very disappointed in this decision, but are confident that the Lord is in control and has an amazing plan for Kutless. We will be at many of the summer festivals and, are currently planning a fall headline tour, and hopefully we will be in your town soon. Please click the tour dates tab or go to www.kutless.com for tour dates. Thank you so much for your loyal support

There was nothing on the Hawk Nelson Facebook page as of last night, but on the band’s website there is a note about the tour being canceled. It also states the band is working on a new album. Earlier this year, the band announced it was losing its frontman Jason Dunn. Here’s a link to a Q&A I did with guitarist Jonathan Steingard in February.

I’m a Denver Post sports copy editor, who covers Christian music in my spare time. I’m a rocker at heart. Grew up listening to Led Zeppelin, The Who ... classic rock is what they call it now. I was introduced to Christian rock by my cousin, Sharon. My first Christian rock experience was Atlanta Fest when I saw this new group — Third Day — playing in front of about 50 people at an outdoor picnic area.